Ocharaku Flat-4 SUI – In Ear Tech is driven further forward
Flat-4 Sui Ocharaku Earphone
Pros
- Bass in the realms of a full sized
- Sub and mid bass punch and warmth
- Mid range detailed clear not particularly veiled
Cons
- Treble sometimes slightly too energetic for some tastes
- High end sources required for larger sized soundstage
- Could be more robust build
Comparisons
Having got a feel for the sound signature the Flat4s can now be plugged into my Chord Mojo and hot swapped between some similarly priced competition. First up – the Sony XBA4ips.
They have a subwoofer bass mid and high frequency driver setup. The Sony’s have a more linear bass signature without the visceral impact of the Ocharakus. The mids of the Sony’s are more forgiving than their competitor. There is less hiss present and the Sony’s still have plenty of detail to offer. The Flat-4 Sui steal the show against the opposition in the mids and there is simply more going on in the mix to focus in on and enjoy. The Sony’s had a pulled in soundstage and a nice sparkle in the higher ranges. The higher ranges were not as detailed and extended as the Flat4s.
The Klipsch X11i , now superseded by the X12i , is a tiny single armature IEM ; certainly the smallest I have come across. Klipsch has managed to get a whole lot of bass into their earphone and bass , using silicon hybrid tips , was on a par with the Flat4s. The Ocharakus had slightly more punch in the mid bass region. Mids were muffled sounding on the X11is in comparison and rolled off at the top. This makes the Klipsch a forgiving IEM for poor recordings and MP3s and they are often my go to earphone for my Ipod Classic. It can’t live with the finesse of the Flat4 SUI’s – they are good but they’re not great.
Supertest
The First Watt F6 Power Amplifier was designed for driving loudspeakers. It is very expensive indeed , retailing for $3500 back in 2014. My model has been modded heavily from the original design and has an extra power supply and far more caps and higher quality components where a difference was worth the cost. It was made specifically to get the most from my HiFIMan HE-6 Headphones. The HE-6 are extremely hard to drive properly.
The First Watt amps are acknowledged as perhaps the best solution for them. The builder of this power amp is at dill3000 from headfi.org and he has a bright future ahead of him in the world of headphones and probably full size systems too. Dillan made me a special balanced to single ended plug that comes from the speaker taps to run unbalanced headphones. With a great deal of care, even IEMs can be run from this monster of an amp….
The Flat4 and Klipsch understandably well overpowered exhibited some hiss through this setup, but musical refinement was what I was looking for in this comparison. The Sony XBA4ip didn’t have too much hiss at all in the test. The Sony’s revealed themselves as being slightly veiled in the mids, the X11i’s less so and the Flat4’s undoubtedly retrieving the most detail. Although this is hardly the sensible match for an IEM it is something towards an ultimate test and it’s always fun to spend some time with.
Conclusion
Ocharakus have produced an IEM that can push the boundaries of what we can expect from the mid tier end of the market.
The Flat4 SUI has a balanced poise with enough bottom end to keep contemporary music enthusiasts engaged and enough detail in the mids and space in the highs to keep classical fans excited.
The balance is always difficult to achieve ; there are many more models on offer out there which will bring different attributes. The SUI could be the middle ground many earphoniac’s are searching for.
